A Winter Book: Selected Stories

I am so delighted that I found a used copy of this at the local bookstore. Of course I knew that I would love it, and I did. Filled with so much of the same sweet melancholic yearnings and childhood fierceness of the Moomin books -- just without the fantasy world. Even though it may seen fantastic to an American reader -- going to live on an island for a season, with maybe only one person for company, children going off on adventures in boats by themselves, icebergs washing up on the shore...

Delightful and observant, these stories are a wonder.

Tove Jansson’s stories beguile. Most are set on or near the islands off the coast of Finland. Most are quasi-autobiographical. Raised in a family of artists, she knows the pleasures and the effort involved in artistic achievement. The most damning accusation the small child stand-in for Jansson can think of in one of the stories is to call the woman she dislikes an amateur. That challenge for authenticity, for aesthetic realism, for the right word or gesture, persists across the 30 years from which these stories are drawn.

Some, such as “The Stone”, capture the intensity of a child’s perception and the importance of a child’s objectives. Others, such as “Flying”, partake of a magic-realist touch, but without any posturing. show more Always, even in “Flying” the stories are grounded in a concrete, practical, love of the physical—the sea, the wind, the small beauties found on a Nordic islet, the presence of mother and father, the games a solitary child plays to amuse herself.

Of course, across so many years one expects to see a wide range of stories, and this collection does not disappoint. “The Squirrel” and “The Boat and Me” stand out as remarkable achievements, I think. But all of the stories here are well worth a read, a welcome addition to the writings of Jansson available in English. show less

I love Tove Jansson's writing - and I've hardly read a word of the Moomins, so here I'm speaking of her adult fiction/nonfiction rather than anything written for a younger audience. So why did this book not work for me? Because it is more of a hodge-podge than A Summer Book, which has a much tighter central theme. I mean, a couple of the pieces here belong to summer more than winter, so why include them? Thematically, they're simply too diverse - many seem to be about Tove herself (which are the stronger) but one suddenly introduces a male narrator (which we only realise after a few pages). More readers should experience Jansson's writing, but this, sadly, was not the way to show off her greatest strengths.

E perché mai il cielo non dovrebbe aver bisogno di un gabbiano, naturalmente se è sgombro di nubi.
(pagine 12-13)

Pensa avere il coraggio di prendere le distanze dal proprio ambiente, da tutti - o sono inaccessibili o li si è lasciati avvicinarsi troppo! - ...per svariati motivi che riguardano solo me...
Ma è che così non si fa.
(pagina 21)

Talvolta … Alexander si sedeva a leggere. Leggeva i classici, francesi e tedeschi fra gli altri, ma soprattutto i russi, che lo incantavano con la loro greve pazienza, e gli comunicavano il senso dell'irrimediabile invariabilità di tutte le cose.
(pagina 38)

Il vento cade o cambia direzione, loro vanno alla deriva verso il mare aperto, e le cose si mettono in modo ben diverso da come si erano show more immaginati.
(pagina 85) show less

Il libro dell’inverno è una bellissima raccolta di racconti dell’infanzia della scrittrice Tove Jansson, finlandese con alle spalle una famiglia di artisti. Il padre è scultore e la madre illustratrice e la bambina vive e inventa le sue storie nell’atelier dei genitori, nelle vie innevate di Helsinki, nelle coste finlandesi.
Ogni racconto è a se ma il filo conduttore sono le vicende familiari di Tove Jansson e della sua strana e non convenzionale famiglia.
I racconti sono intimi, dolci, a volte ricchi di immaginazione a volte di cruda realtà, ma sicuramente la sensazione è di trovarsi in quei soffici o soleggiati paesaggi insieme all’autrice.
Il più bel racconto? Forse quello dell’attesa del Natale che coinvolge tutta la show more famiglia, una atmosfera resa benissimo dalle parole e dalle descrizioni dell’autrice: i gesti, le tradizioni, le luci, i colori, sembra di trovarsi nell’atelier con la famiglia.
Una bella scoperta questo libro, leggerò di sicuro anche “Il libro dell’estate”. show less

These wonderful stories are little gems, more directly autobiographical than those in the ‘Summer Book’. I may even prefer some of them to those. They are as Esther Freud writes: infused with a strong sense of Tove Jansson’s character … determined, indignant, fearless as a child … and still so in old age. Not all set during the winter months.
(I have one issue with the translation: Kingsley Hart’s use of ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’; I dislike these sugary familiar forms, much better: ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’ the familiar expressions Thomas Teal uses in the ‘Summer Book’. But that is my personal taste.) (IX-23

This is a lovely book of short stories, many of which are deeply reflective about both youth and old age. Throughout my time reading this book, I had a hard time discerning what was autobiographical and and what was pure fiction. Nonetheless, Tove Jansson does an excellent job probing the trials of youth, old age, and fame. While not as good as her more famous Summer Book, this is a nice addition to any library and will give further depth to understanding Ms. Jansson.

For readers looking for particularly good stories, the highly-recommended story, "The Iceberg", is a must. The language is lyrical and at times left me tingly. I also really enjoyed "The Boat and Me" and "The Squirrel", which seem to do a fine job representing both show more adolescence and old age, respectively. show less